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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Motta

Motta is a small ball of acid curd from the Valsesia, made with no rennet at all. Raw milk, partly skimmed by letting the cream rise, sours at room temperature for 12–24 hours until it sets like yoghurt. The moist curd is kneaded with salt, pepper, fennel seed and cumin, rolled into balls and eaten fresh or after 1–2 weeks.

Fully documentedCheese7.5 days – 15 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Piemonte, schede tecniche 2015)Family: Fresh lactic (acid-set) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives times but no amounts. A ball weighs about 300–600 g.
Raw cow milk, one milkingPartly skimmed by letting the cream rise in shallow tubs[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
Salt, pepper, fennel seed and cumin[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
Wine (sometimes)Small amounts[piemonte-pat]
No rennetCoagulation is by acid only[piemonte-pat]

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.5 days – 15 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: The milk stands in shallow tubs and part of the cream is taken off

Step 1 of 5
Let the cream rise
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: partly skimmed raw milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Motta is a small ball of acid curd from the Valsesia, made with no rennet at all. Raw milk, partly skimmed by letting the cream rise, sours at room temperature for 12–24 hours until it sets like yoghurt. The moist curd is kneaded with salt, pepper, fennel seed and cumin, rolled into balls and eaten fresh or after 1–2 weeks. Made in 5 steps over 7.5 days – 15 days. The longest step, ripen on wooden boards, takes 7–14 days (Regione Piemonte 2015).

Key numbers
Main step7–14 daysReported[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen on wooden boards

What makes this one different

Motta uses no rennet. The sheets say it began in the lower summer pastures, where the milk sours too much in the warmth; the excess acidity of the milk and the surface cream ruled out normal cheesemaking, so the acid curd was spiced and rolled into balls.

Rind
Irregular, pale yellow to hazelnut; none or slightly mouldy
Size
300–600 g; irregular ball Ø 7–8 cm

Related ferments

Safety

The regional sheet notes that a well-developed acidity in the finished cheese holds back unwanted microbes. The milk is raw, and the cheese may be eaten just made or after 1–2 weeks. The US CDC says people at higher risk of Listeria infection, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid cheese made with raw milk unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The ONAF sheet says motta began in the lowest summer pastures, where the milk sours too much in the sometimes high temperatures. In the area's very poor tradition it let people use milk that was too acid, with too much acid cream on top, for ordinary cheesemaking. It is made all year, but the summer-pasture version is the most characteristic.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [piemonte-pat] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 luglio 2015 n. 460, schede tecniche dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, categoria D prodotto n. 19 Motta, Bollettino Ufficiale BU38S1, 24 September 2015gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet Mottaweb
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Motta' (id 462)web
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov